Border controls: Merz warns of citizenship and demands legal certainty

Border controls: Merz warns of citizenship and demands legal certainty

In the middle of the ongoing debate about asylum policy in Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) described the possibility of self -empowered border controls by citizens as illegal. He expressed this after a meeting with the Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. Merz made it clear that he sees no signs of such controls at the German borders and expects the authorities to prevent corresponding actions. This discussion is followed by incidents in the Netherlands, where citizens had organized vehicle controls at the Pentecost weekend at the border.

The control campaigns on the federal road 408, which leads to Ter Apel, aimed to prevent the entry of asylum seekers. Participants were equipped with warning vests and lamps and stopped vehicles. On Sunday evening, both the German and the Dutch police intervened to avert a re -control campaign. Dozens of Dutch had collected on the border while the police found the identity of those involved. At this point, the Dutch government broke apart on Tuesday in a dispute over a harder asylum policy. This underlines the tensions in European asylum policy, which Merz also referred to by emphasizing the need for European cooperation.

role of the new interior minister

In another context, Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) became the new Federal Minister of the Interior on Wednesday. Dobrindt plans to strengthen controls at the German external borders. At the moment, 11,000 civil servants are deployed, a number that is to be increased by up to 3,000 federal police officers. In addition, he announced that he has rejections in asylum cases and raised an earlier instruction from 2015, some of which had excluded this. These measures come, while Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized German border controls and emphasized that they should apply in particular at the external borders of the EU.

The current wave of asylum policy is also accompanied by political reactions. Merz ’predecessor Olaf Scholz was criticized by Merz for his inactivity in asylum policy. These public statements reflect a profound discussion within the coalition, which is also commented on by the groups of the Greens and the SPD. Katharina Dröge (Greens) accused Merz of uncoordinated implementations of border controls. Dirk Wiese (SPD) supported the new asylum policy, but also pointed out the need for legal reviews.

insight into the statistics

With regard to the numbers, it can be seen that the federal police registered around 7,000 unauthorized entry in October 2023. In comparison, this number was only 600 in the same period 2024. While the controls at the border with Austria have been established since 2015, the unauthorized entry in 2024 went back to around 83,500, according to a peak of 130,000 in 2023.

Overall, the new measures and the current political debate in Germany are faced with the challenge of ensuring both security at the limits and observing humanitarian obligations. A coordinated European attitude is required against the background of the tense political conditions in neighboring countries.